If you wrote off Zoom after the pandemic ended, you may have missed the pivot. Zoom Communications reported its fastest revenue growth in 11 quarters in its most recent results, raised its FY2027 guidance above $5 billion, and grew AI Companion monthly active users more than four times year-on-year — all while running a ~40% non-GAAP operating margin and buying back billions in stock.
The share price is up roughly 22% year-to-date and trades around $96. Analysts carry an average 12-month target of $118, suggesting the market still hasn’t fully priced the AI platform story (StockAnalysis). Here’s what Zoom actually looks like now — and how to trade ZM-PERP on BTSE.
ZM at a Glance
- Ticker: ZM (Nasdaq)
- Business: Enterprise collaboration (Meetings, Phone, Contact Center, Whiteboard), AI-powered workplace tools (AI Companion, ZoomMate, Virtual Agent, Contact Center), and a fast-growing revenue orchestration and employee experience portfolio
- FY2026 revenue: $4.87 billion, up 4.4% year-on-year; earnings up 88% (StockAnalysis)
- Q2 CY2026 results: Revenue of ~$1.28 billion, up 4.9% year-on-year — fastest growth in 11 quarters; enterprise up 7.8%; Virtual Agent customer count up 256% year-on-year (FinancialContent)
- FY2027 guidance: Revenue $5.085–5.095 billion; non-GAAP operating margin ~40.5%; non-GAAP EPS ~$6.12
- Cash position: ~$7.8 billion — nearly equivalent to the entire market cap at its post-pandemic trough
- Share buybacks: ~$2.7 billion repurchased in the last fiscal year
- AI Companion MAUs: Grew 4x+ year-on-year; Contact Center ARR growing “high double-digits”
- Notable acquisitions: Common Room (July 2026); BrightHire — expanding into revenue orchestration and recruiting
From Video Calls to “AI System of Action”
CEO Eric Yuan called FY2026 “a pivotal year” for Zoom, with the company accelerating revenue growth by 130 basis points versus the prior fiscal year and laying out a FY2027 revenue target above $5 billion (Seeking Alpha). The context matters: in 2021, Zoom was a video-call company growing 300%+ a year on pandemic tailwinds. By 2022–2023, as offices reopened, growth collapsed into low single digits and the stock fell over 80% from its all-time high.
What happened next is the part the market is still catching up to. Zoom quietly built a second product layer on top of its video infrastructure: Zoom Phone (now sustaining mid-teens ARR growth and winning deals that displace Cisco), Zoom Contact Center (ARR growing in high double digits, Virtual Agent customer base up 256% year-on-year), Zoom AI Companion (MAUs 4x year-on-year), and a new agentic AI stack that lets AI agents autonomously complete tasks across platforms.
The latest results showed these bets paying off. Large customer wins, including a five-year, seven-figure ARR deal displacing Cisco for Zoom Phone and broad enterprise adoption of Virtual Agent 2.0 (which has cut customer service costs for early deployers like SecureOne), gave Zoom its strongest enterprise growth rate in years at 7.8% — and the company raised its FY2027 guidance to above $5 billion, reflecting confidence the acceleration will continue.
The Anthropic Connection
Zoom also disclosed a stake in Anthropic — the AI safety company behind Claude — and its $7.8 billion cash pile gives it the financial flexibility to deepen that relationship or make further acquisitions in the AI tooling space. The Common Room and BrightHire acquisitions in 2026 point to an expansion into revenue intelligence and recruiting AI that positions Zoom as a horizontal AI platform for enterprise workflows, not just meetings.
The Bull and Bear Case for ZM-PERP
The bull case: Accelerating revenue growth (fastest in 11 quarters), enterprise momentum, AI Companion adoption inflecting sharply upward, a 40% operating margin that funds a $2.7 billion annual buyback programme, $7.8 billion in cash, an Anthropic stake, and a FY2027 guidance raise. All of this on a stock still more than 80% below its all-time high — suggesting the market hasn’t yet given Zoom full credit for the transformation (TheStreet).
The bear case: Revenue growth is still in the low-to-mid single digits — impressive for a mature SaaS business, but modest against pure-play AI competitors. Q3 guidance implies a slowdown back toward 3% growth. Enterprise sales cycles are elongating in a tough macro environment. And the foundational product — video meetings — is in a market where Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex provide zero-cost alternatives bundled with enterprise productivity suites. Zoom has to win on AI add-ons against competitors with larger bundled install bases.
Why Trade Zoom With ZM-PERP on BTSE
ZM trades on Nasdaq during US market hours, but AI product announcements, enterprise deal news, and macro sentiment shifts around software spending happen around the clock.
ZM-PERP on BTSE lets you trade the AI platform pivot in real time:
- Trade 24/7 — enterprise AI announcements and macro software spending signals don’t wait for the Nasdaq open
- Go long or short — trade the AI re-rating story or fade a low-growth mature tech business
- Leverage available — amplify exposure with less upfront capital
- No expiry — hold as long as you maintain margin
- Stablecoin settlement — manage ZM alongside your other stock and crypto perps from one USDT wallet
New to perps? Start with what perpetual futures are and how they work, then explore how funding rates work if you plan to hold a position across multiple sessions.
Quick Tips for Trading ZM-PERP
- Track enterprise revenue and Contact Center ARR above all. These are the AI-transformation metrics — not total subscriber count, which includes legacy consumer plans that aren’t part of the growth story.
- Watch AI Companion monetisation progress. AI Companion is currently free for most Zoom plans. Once Zoom starts charging premium pricing for advanced AI features at scale, the revenue impact could be a step-change catalyst.
- Compare it to CrowdStrike in the platform-consolidation trade. Our CRWD-PERP article covers a similar “platform beats point solutions” thesis in enterprise software — a useful parallel for how the Zoom consolidation story can play out.
- Review our risk management guide before holding through earnings. ZM has moved 10%+ in both directions on quarterly results — position size accordingly.
The Bottom Line
Zoom has done something most pandemic-era darlings haven’t: actually pivoted. Revenue growth is accelerating again, the AI product suite is gaining real enterprise traction, operating margins are among the best in software, and the company is using its $7.8 billion cash pile to buy back stock and make strategic AI acquisitions. The stock is still 80%+ below its all-time high. Whether you think the AI re-rating has more to run or believe low-single-digit revenue growth caps the upside, ZM-PERP lets you trade that view any hour of the day.
Trade ZM-PERP on BTSE
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This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Perpetual futures and leveraged products carry significant risk, including the risk of total loss and liquidation. Trade responsibly.
